Subject: File No. S7-25-99
From: Stephanie Berger

January 7, 2005

The role of the SEC is to protect the common investor by regulating the securities industry. It seems clear to me that it is in the investors best interest to force advisors to register with, and abide by the rules of, the Investment Advisers Act. Since it is in the investors best interest, it must also be in the best interest of the SEC. Forcing these interlopers out of the advice-giving waters would do much the same as the Plain English ruling did for disclosure. Simply, the proposed ruling fully aligns with the SECs mandate to protect the common investor. In fact, I would expect nothing less than this sort of protection by the SEC. Moreover, I am shocked to learn that this protection was not the result of the proposal in 1999-2000